January 23, 2024 • 38 mins
Discover the transformative power of aligning body and soul with the insightful guidance of Catholic Life Coach Jessica Castillo. Our latest episode takes you on a Lenten journey via the Missio Parata Lenten Challenge, designed by Jessica to weave physical discipline with prayer into a tapestry of readiness for God's call.
As a fellow participant, I share first-hand the invigorating impact of this unique program, where diet, fasting, daily movement, and sleep fuse with spiritual practices like the rosary and Lectio Divina, equipping women to take up their divine purpose with vigor and clarity.
In our conversation, we shine a light on how temperance and the nurturing of virtues can solidify our moral resilience, liberating us from the grasp of vice.
Whether you're fine-tuning your life or seeking spiritual depth, this episode promises to be your compass to discipline and discover your mission, with Jessica Castillo's wisdom lighting the way.
Join the challenge: https://www.athrivingcatholic.com/lent
Listen to Jessica's Podcast: A Thriving Catholic
I'm here for you. I'm praying for you. You are NOT alone!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Catholic Subriety Podcast, the
go-to resource for women seekingto have a deeper understanding
of the role alcohol plays intheir lives, women who are
looking to drink less or not atall for any reason.
I am your host, kristy Walker.
I'm a wife, mom and a JoyfieldCatholic, and I am the Catholic
(00:24):
Subriety Coach, and I am so gladyou're here.
You were created on purpose andfor a purpose.
My friend and Catholic lifecoach, jessica Castillo, says
this often, and I firmly believethis as well.
I think it's one of the manythings that Jessica and I have
(00:44):
in common, and we both have adesire to help other women know
and understand this truth aswell.
I'm so honored to have Jessicaback on the podcast today.
It's been about a year since shewas on and, believe it or not,
lent is quickly approaching.
I know we just finished Adventand the Christmas season and
(01:07):
Lent's going to be here onFebruary 14th this year, so I
knew that I wanted to have herback on to talk about her free
Misioparata Lenten Challenge,and Misioparata is Latin for
Mission Ready.
I participated in it last yearand it was amazing.
I also recommend that you goback and listen to episode 9.
(01:31):
You are one of my very firstinterviews and it was a very
early podcast, and go listen toJessica's story, and she also
talks more about Misioparatathere as well.
Jessica is a former West Pointgraduate and Army officer.
She helps high achievingCatholic women excel at their
(01:55):
own missions by helping themlearn to optimize every aspect
of their health so that they arenot hindered in their work by
depression, fatigue, overwhelmor preventable illnesses.
Jessica knows that God hassomething important for every
woman and that is her goal is tohelp bring that out in them.
(02:19):
Jessica is the founder of athriving Catholic and host of
the podcast A Thriving Catholic.
So welcome back, jessica.
I'm so happy to have you here.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Thank you so much for having me, Christy.
I'm so excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Let's go ahead and start off, because I'm sure the
question that everyone has hadif they haven't listened to
episode 9 and they haven't hadthe pleasure of you know, coming
upon any of your social mediaor your podcast is what is
Misioparata and how did it comeabout?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Okay, so Misioparata is my freelance and challenge,
like you mentioned.
That basically combines somevery disciplined physical
practices with deep andintentional prayer, and the
intention behind all of it isthat you, through the process of
participating in theMisioparata challenge, that you
(03:18):
really do become this fitinstrument in the hands of God,
that you are now mission readyand you can accomplish the will
of the Lord in your life in, ifnot a new way, like a more
profound or a deeper way, and sothat is basically what
Misioparata is.
And so some of those practices,the physical practices there's
(03:40):
discipline, diet and fasting,there's intentional movement
every day and a focus on gettingenough sleep.
We combine that with prayer ofthe rosary and lexio divina, and
it really got started.
Last Lent was the first time Iran it, so this will be the
second annual Misioparata Lentenchallenge, but the way it
(04:03):
really started was around thistime last year, before Lent.
I was really reflecting andpraying a lot on this concept of
mission, and part of it isprobably because of my
background as a former Armyofficer and, I think, in terms
of objectives and missionssometimes.
But I was really motivated andinspired by this quote from St
(04:28):
John Henry Newman which I'vealways loved so much.
But the quote is God hascreated me to do him some
definite service.
He has committed some work tome which he has not committed to
another.
I have my mission.
And so this idea of mission,this concept that every single
(04:48):
human person was created, likeyou said in the intro on purpose
and for purpose Well, what isthat purpose?
And how do we help uncover itand discover it?
And so, as I was praying andreflecting on this before Lent
last year, I really felt likethe Lord was saying to me well,
(05:08):
your role is to get the missionready.
You get the mission ready.
I don't know what your missionis.
I don't know what the Lord iscalling you to do.
All I know is that he hascreated you for a purpose, and
so my role in it is to help youbecome the most capable and fit
instrument you can possibly be,so that you can fulfill that
role and so that you can stepinto that mission and do it even
(05:31):
better.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Oh yes, that's so important, I think, for people
to realize because sometimes wejust get stuck not feeling well.
I've heard you say sometimes weforget how it feels to feel
well because we've just spent somuch time feeling not good or
(05:54):
just being trapped by thecomforts that we have.
And then when we start todetach ourselves from those
things, we're like, oh mygoodness, it just opens yourself
up and you're like this is whatit feels like to feel really
well.
And I can say I've done a lotof different things.
I've done like 30 and differenttypes of elimination diets and
(06:17):
those are so, so helpful.
What I loved about Misioparatais not just the food aspect of
it, but because it's lent andwe're dedicating this to God and
trying to make it a holy workand take care of ourselves mind,
body and spirit during lent.
I loved your challenge becauseit not only incorporated the
(06:40):
food aspect, which I'll let youtalk about later, but also
exercise in our spirituality,like praying the rosary or lexio
divina, and I just found it tobe so wonderful.
My husband he actually doesExodus 90, which is really
hardcore and involves coldshowers.
(07:00):
So I'm so glad that yourchallenge does not involve cold
showers, but it's similar in theway that it's like self mastery
and just detaching.
And by the end of lent lastyear I just felt better than I
think I've ever felt and Ireally did feel mission ready.
(07:24):
Now that's not to say I fallback into my old ways, because I
have, and that's why I'm solooking forward to Misioparata
to just kind of get myselfmission ready again, because I
feel like I was more creative, Ihad so much more mental clarity
, I had so much more energy, andthat's something that I'm sure
you hear time and time againfrom the women that you work
(07:47):
with.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah, absolutely, and that's like the whole point of
all of it.
This is why we do it.
And cold showers, I think, arewonderful, they're so good, but
of course I wanted to create achallenge that was hard and
intentionally hard, but all forpurpose and of course, cold
shower server purpose too.
I'm not saying you don't.
(08:09):
But I think what?
When I first created thechallenge, too, the idea was in
my mind that, oh, maybe peoplearen't going to want to do this,
because I know a lot of.
So I am a certified healthcoach, and I know that a lot of
times, with health coaching,it's very common to try to take
(08:33):
this very gentle approach.
You tell someone to just maybedrink more water or take to get
a little bit more merbin, or youtake these very tiny baby steps
, and I kind of felt like thatwas not really my role or my
personality either.
(08:53):
That wasn't what I couldeffectively bring to the table,
and so, when I created theMissio Prada challenge, I almost
thought about it as throwing agauntlet down and saying here
you go, this is hard, and it'sunapologetic.
Like this will be hard.
This is a challenge, and thebeauty of it, though, is that
(09:14):
you can do hard things, and youcan do hard things for the
greater glory of God, and so Ithink that what happens is that
we start to feel thatinspiration, that magnanimity in
our soul.
We feel this expansive feelingof, yes, I can do something hard
for God, and it's going toresult in all of these amazing
(09:39):
things.
But even in the process of it.
It's changing and transformingus, and we're growing.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yes, I believe that so wholeheartedly.
I think of it like sometimeswhen I have to get up in the
morning and go work out and Iknow that the garage is going to
be freezing cold and I don'twant to do it.
I just think of it as I'm justgetting to the edge of the pool
and jumping in, instead of babystepping into the pool, where it
lasts so much longer and it'sjust so much harder, and then I
(10:09):
might not even go in all the waybecause it's just, oh my gosh,
this is horrible.
But if I just jump in, thenthat only lasts for a minute,
and then afterwards I'm so gladthe way that I did it.
And so that's what I alwaysvisualize in my mind.
If I have to take my dog on awalk and it's freezing cold
outside, I'm like, just jump inthe pool, christy, it's going to
(10:33):
be so much better.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Yeah.
Or I like to say to decide andthen don't decide, you've
already decided.
So when we start talking toourselves out of it or thinking,
oh, maybe I'll just do some ofit or I'll do a little bit, and
then we start half-stepping andwe don't need to do that, yeah,
I completely agree.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
So, on that topic, something that always gets me
going is the quote by PopeBenedict the 16th that the world
offers you comfort, but you arenot made for comfort, you are
made for greatness.
And in a world that offers uscomfort and convenience, why do
you think that they really cankeep us stuck and stagnant and
(11:19):
even dissatisfied?
So why do you think that is?
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yeah, first of all, I totally love that quote from
Benedict XVI, one of my favoritequotes too.
But I think that some of theways this worldly comfort keeps
us stuck and stagnant is that,first of all, just the science
behind it of how dopamine worksin our brain.
So I know that you probablywork with clients about this all
the time, but things likescrolling our phones and eating
(11:46):
sugar and junk food and drinkingalcohol all of these things
cause these spikes, at leastinitially, a big spike in
dopamine to an unnaturally highlevel, and so in our brains we
think this feels amazing, thisis so good, I want this.
But then what happens is wehave that crash, the dopamine
(12:06):
crash, where now everythingfeels bad and we can't even get
back up the baseline againunless we try to start seeking
out another dopamine hit.
And so I think, when we thinkabout worldly comforts, what
we're really searching for, whatour brain is searching for, is
dopamine.
We're trying to have thismolecule of motivation, the
(12:29):
molecule of more, thisneurotransmitter that makes us
feel good and happy, and this isa good thing.
So I think, on a scientificlevel, this is what's kind of
happening in our brains and thereason why that sort of stuff
keeps us stuck and stagnant isthat we're now stuck in this
loop of destructive or behavior.
(12:52):
Really, that's not leading usin a good direction, it's not
leading us on the path togreater health or greater virtue
it's, and it also isn't helpingus to do things that we really
desire to do with our time andwith our lives.
Because now we're stuck wherewe just waste time scrolling our
phones or on Netflix, or we'rewasting time feeling sick or
(13:15):
unwell because we ate poorly orwe drank too much or we did all
these things in this pursuit ofthis dopamine high, and so what
happens is that we don't end uptaking the action or moving
forward on the things that arereally important to us, so we
stay stuck.
And then I think also there's avery there's a spiritual level.
(13:38):
You know, saint Thomas Aquinaspointed this out himself.
He said that man cannot livewithout joy.
Therefore, when he's deprivedof true spiritual joys, it is
necessary that he becomeaddicted to carnal pleasures.
And I always think about thatquote, because the reason why
we're seeking comfort in theworld, why we're searching out
(14:01):
this, this dopamine, is becausewe were made to live with joy,
we were made to have joy, and sowe can have a more authentic,
healthy, real joy, which is adeep spiritual joy, or a joy
from accomplishing our goals or,you know, because we also get
(14:23):
dopamine from doing these sortof things, making progress
toward an important goal or youknow, just the joy that we feel
when we are eating well andmoving well and living in
balance and we are having thisdeep prayer.
This is also joy, but it's joyof a different and more lasting
(14:45):
sort and it actually helps usbecome better and move towards
our goals.
So I think that that's kind ofthe difference between here's
worldly comfort and it's onlygoing to feel good for a very
short amount of time and thenit's going to feel worse and
you're going to have to keepchasing that and it's not going
to be consistent.
But here's a steeper kind ofjoy, here's this joy that, of
(15:07):
course, man, you were made forjoy, so you must experience joy.
But we get to choose and useour intellect and our will and
decide then well, which do Iwant to pursue?
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah, I agree, and I love that St Thomas Aquinas
quote too.
That's so.
I think that's so illuminatingand can really help us keep
focused on the why of it, like,instead of beating ourselves up
like why do I do this, why am Idoing this, look for maybe the
deeper root of why you're doingit.
(15:41):
It's probably not what youthink a lot of times, so I
really like that.
So, speaking of virtues, sovirtues like temperance can be
really powerful in helping usdetach from vices.
So can you share about howcultivating virtues has helped
you personally in your endeavorsto be mission ready?
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, absolutely so.
Temperance, we know, is thatmoral virtue.
When we talk about temperance,it's the virtue that moderates
the attraction of pleasures andprovides balance in the use of
creative goods.
So when we're thinkingtemperance, this is what we're
thinking.
The cool thing about growth invirtue is that when you start
(16:28):
growing in one virtue, itactually becomes easier to grow
in other virtues as well, andthis when we talk about growing
in virtue in order to detachfrom vices.
One thing that I think is reallyimportant to point out is the
way that we grow in virtue is bythe exercising of virtue.
(16:49):
So it's kind of like thatanalogy of working out in the
gym.
How do you grow your muscles?
Well, you put them under stress.
You stress your muscles bylifting weights and then you
grow back bigger, stronger,better muscles.
And the same thing with how dowe grow in virtue.
How do we practice virtue?
Well, we have to give ourselvesopportunities to practice
(17:09):
virtue.
I mean, they exist already.
Our daily lives are going toprovide plenty of opportunities
to practice virtue.
But we can also intentionallytrain ourselves in growing in
virtue, and I think what peoplestart to notice, especially if
someone were to take onsomething like the miscobrata
challenge or any intentionalendeavor, where we are
(17:31):
deliberately saying no to onekind of perceived good or to a
comfort that the world offers usand instead we're embracing a
different path, this maybe morechallenging and more arduous
path.
What we're giving ourselves theopportunity to do is to now
exercise that virtue, thatvirtue of temperance, that those
(17:53):
virtues of fortitude, thosevirtues of prudence, and as we
start to grow stronger throughthe use of exercising these
virtues, they become easier,they become more habitual for us
to exercise.
And this is 100% been true inmy life, because I can.
I can attestify, much like you,that whenever I am really
(18:16):
holding to these habits that Iknow are helping me to be at my
best, physically and mentallyand spiritually, that everything
in my life is going usuallymuch better.
So I'm more successful in mybusiness, I'm having an easier
time in my relationships with myfamily or homeschooling my kids
.
There is there's so manybenefits that just come from
(18:40):
exercising these virtues, andthen how it spills over into
every part of our life.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
That's so true because I notice I can get so
much done when I am balancingall those plates and just giving
attention to each one.
Not a ton of attention, but alittle bit.
And it's so interesting how Ican, all of a sudden, when I was
thinking I don't have time foranything, like I don't have time
to exercise, I don't have timeto cook, we need to eat out, or
(19:11):
I don't have time to clean myhouse.
It's a complete disaster.
Yet when I get in that habit andthat's what you focus on so
much and I love is, once you getin that habit it doesn't mean
that you're always doing itperfectly, but when you're in
that habit, it's like everythingelse goes so much more smoothly
(19:32):
because you're not having tospend an ordinate amount of time
on one thing, because you'vebeen able just to do little,
little daily habits to keepeverything going smoothly.
And then, yeah, it's just, it'sso freeing, because sometimes I
think, well, I don't reallywant to do that, I would rather
(19:53):
do that, I would rather scrollon my phone or whatever.
Well, that's not going to getme the results that I want.
It might, in that moment, besomething that I think that I
want to do, but it's not goingto get me the results I want.
So if you keep your results inmind, that's also super helpful
as well.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
But I think I was just going to mention.
I know probably a lot of yourlisteners might be working their
way through to Father MichaelMike Schmitz's Bible in a year
podcast since January, startingthe year.
A lot of people are probablyworking through that and I know
a few days ago we read about howJacob and Esau and how Jacob
(20:34):
was willing to trade hisbirthright to Jacob for a in
exchange for a bowl of lentilstew or potage, and I know
Father Mike highlighted well,how can we be willing to trade
away something so precious for abowl of stew?
But that's how it is.
(20:55):
When we're actually in thatmoment of temptation where we're
like, okay, I have these dreamsand these aspirations and this
and maybe even this mission fromGod that I am supposed to be
fulfilling, but in the actualmoment, in the right now moment,
it feels so much better to tryto seek out comfort than it does
(21:17):
to do the hard work of what Imight be called to do.
And that's not to say there'snot a time and a place for rest
and there's not a time and placewhere it's probably fine to be
on your phone or to watchNetflix or to rest.
There's a time for all of that.
It's just that's where it comesin to using the virtues and
(21:38):
relying on the virtues and usingyour prudential judgment of
when is this an appropriate timeand when is this not an
appropriate time.
And again, that's whattemperance is.
It's just moderating theattraction of pleasure, it's
just providing balance in theuse of these creative goods.
It's not saying you shouldnever have pleasure, you should
(22:00):
never use these creative goods.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Right, I'm so glad you highlighted it and that that
scripture is.
I do listen to Father MikeSchmidt's Bible in here and I
know that when I've heard thatscripture I'm just like that's
crazy, like, but we do that, howoften do we do that?
And so it is very good to lookat those old stories like that
(22:23):
and be like it's so applicableto my life today, because how
many times have I givensomething so good just for the
carnal pleasure in that momentthat I think that I need, and
then I just don't feel greatlater and I'm like, wait, I
didn't mean to do that, I didn'twant to do that.
So I'm sure that my listenersare wondering what?
(22:47):
Because we've alluded to alittle bit about what you need
to do in Missio Parada, but Iwould just like you to go
through what are some of thosethings that we are detaching
from so that we can freeourselves up to greater health
and clarity and optimization.
And also I just want to saythat one of the things that
(23:12):
Jessica has is like this Excel.
She's like an Excel sheetwizard.
She's like I don't know if youknow this, but she has an Excel
sheet.
I don't know if she's doing itthis year.
Are you doing it again?
Yeah, ok, and so it's live.
And for some people that can bedaunting, like, oh my gosh, look
at Susie, she's like knockingit out of the park every day and
(23:34):
I am sitting here like, well,ok, I can not to brag, but I can
rock the alcohol the no alcoholthing I'm just saying.
But I've been practicing it fora long time.
But some of the other things,like the fasting, and I'll let
you get into all of that, someof those things I can't hit
every day, but when I wasfilling it out sometimes those
(23:54):
types of things, my brain islike I didn't do all of them.
So now I have totally messed itup and I just did not allow
myself to do that.
And your coaching andeverything was so helpful in
that because you are so likeit's OK if you don't do it, just
do as much as you can.
And I did that instead ofquitting and saw so many fruits
(24:18):
from that.
So if you could just talk aboutwhat's in it, maybe some of the
hurdles that people will faceand how to get through that.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Yeah, absolutely OK.
So these are the components ofbasically what the challenge is.
The first, you've mentionedalready, is discipline, diet and
fasting.
So during the course of theNisiyo Karate Challenge, you
will be abstaining from sugar,alcohol, gluten and dairy for
the entire challenge, and sothat eliminates the Sunday
(24:48):
cheats.
There will not be a Sundaycheat in the challenge.
You will be abstaining fromthese things the entire
challenge, and the reason why wedo that is because these are
actually the most inflammatoryfoods for most people, and so
eliminating them entirely isgoing to help your body heal and
strengthen.
And in addition to that, duringthe challenge, you'll be
(25:08):
fasting on Fridays, and, ofcourse, I give a lot more detail
and training into what thatconsists of Basically, if you're
not pregnant or nursing, inwhich case you will not be
fasting, or if you don't have amedical condition that prohibits
you from fasting.
Fasting is a powerful spiritualpractice and it also has a lot
of physical benefits as well.
(25:30):
So Fridays, during thechallenge, there is a fasting
component.
There's also a restorativesleep as part of the challenge,
so I'm literally challenging youto spend seven to eight hours
in bed each night, and for somepeople that sounds too easy and
they're thinking well, how hardcould it be?
But for other people who aresleeping a lot less than that,
(25:51):
it's a real challenge to beconsistent in your bad wake time
, but that's such an important,critically important component
to helping people to have theclarity, that focus, that
vitality that they need.
Sleep is foundational and a lotof people aren't doing it, so
that's part of the challenge.
The other physical aspect of thechallenge is daily movement.
(26:14):
I challenge everyone to moveevery day for at least 30
minutes, and this can be brokenup throughout the day.
I let people choose whetherthey want to do it all at one
time, if you want to break upand maybe go for a 10-minute
walk here and another 10-minutewalk there and then 10 minutes
of stretching or something laterin the day, or if you want it
(26:34):
to be more intense, and so thisis kind of variable and I'll let
you choose how you want to dothat.
But there's just no doubt thatexercise is the most effective
way to increase our ability tofocus, to concentrate, to grow
new brain cells and also ourability to manage stress, and
all of this helps us to serveGod better, because we have that
(26:57):
focus and that clarity and thatability to think more clearly.
And then we combine all ofthose physical practices with
deep prayer.
So I ask everyone to commit topraying a daily rosary and also
30 minutes of Lectio Divinaevery day of the challenge and
then going to confession atleast once during the challenge,
(27:19):
which is just actually requiredof all Catholics during Lent,
anyway.
So you're just doing that.
So that's the components ofwhat I'm asking people to do,
but I also include in thechallenge things to help make
that more possible.
So I have a pre-challengetraining call where I actually
outline the exact protocol ofthe challenge, how all of it's
(27:41):
going to work, what resourcesyou have access to to make it
easier, and then I'll do aweekly live coaching and
training during the challenge.
So every single week of thechallenge I'm providing a deeper
training on once some aspect ofthe challenge, so sleep and
diet and exercise and LectioDivina and how to pray the
(28:03):
rosary all of the components ofthe challenge I provide deeper
training in, and so that's achance every week for people to
come together and get theirquestions answered and be
coached live as well.
There is a private Facebookgroup where everyone can connect
and build that community sothat we're able to know that
(28:23):
we're in this together.
And then what you were talkingabout is the shared Google sheet
that I've created.
That is the habit tracker forthe challenge, and so for every
single day of the challenge, youbasically go on there and put
your name on a row of the habittracker and you have the chance
to track how you're doing on allof these components of the
(28:45):
challenge every single day ofthe challenge, and that's really
meant to help keep youmotivated and accountable to
yourself more than anything.
But also at the end of thechallenge, when I have the post
challenge closing call, I dohave the opportunity for you to
win a prize for participation inthe challenge, which I just
(29:06):
think is a fun way to wrapeverything up.
And also that post challengeclosing call.
I mean, you've spent all ofLent working on getting mission
ready, and so where do you gofrom here?
What do you do next?
How do you go out into theworld and actually serve the
Lord in your mission?
And that's what we do in thewrap up call.
(29:26):
So those are all the componentsof the challenge and then what
I'm trying to include in thefree challenge.
So all of that is free in thechallenge because I think it's
powerful and I think it's reallyhelpful.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Oh it is, and it's so generous and there's so much
included in it and it's sopowerful, right?
Because I say this all the timewhen I'm talking to women about
sobriety when you have supportand you have other people
walking alongside of you, itjust makes it so much easier.
So I know, being in thatprivate Facebook group,
sometimes women would be likeI'm having headaches, because
(30:02):
when you have been eating allthis sugar from the holidays and
then you detox from it, yourbody is going to feel some
things that are veryuncomfortable.
But when you have somebody else, that's like, yeah, I was
feeling like that too, but I gotthrough it.
Or you come on I mean you'revery active in there too and
you're like this is what'shappening, this is what you can
(30:23):
do to minimize that, you know,and so it's so very helpful to
have that added support on thejourney as well, because if
we're just doing it forourselves, that's great.
If we're doing it for ourselvesand for God, that's amazing too.
But when we just have thatextra added encouragement and
(30:43):
support of you know, you and Iboth feel very strongly about
spiritual gifts and like ourability as Christians to work
together, and I feel like thisis just another powerful way of
all of us coming together andsupporting each other,
encouraging each other and beingthe light of Christ to each
(31:04):
other, just for the greater good.
And you alluded a little bit towhat happens at the end,
because that's what comes up forme is at the end of land, I
start feeling really anxious.
I feel so good.
I don't want this to godownhill, and maybe we don't
keep such a strict regimen allthe time.
(31:26):
So what is like one thing thatyou would tell women as they're
reintroducing some of thesethings, or deciding what to keep
and what they can maybe be alittle more lax on?
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah, so that's such a good question.
I think that the main thing isto reflect on what felt the best
for you during the challenge,what had the biggest impact, and
so those are going to be thethings that you want to keep
moving forward.
And I will be honest, for mostof the people who participated
in the challenge last year, themost consistent thing that
(32:03):
people said that they were goingto continue in their life and
keep doing moving forward wasactually consistent lexiodivina.
For a lot of people, that wassomething that they had not done
before.
And so, recognizing, as youparse through the pieces of the
challenge and you try to analyze, okay, what is it that is
making me feel so good right now, what is having the biggest
(32:26):
impact in my health, in myhappiness, in my relationship
with God, and then, as you findthose elements of the challenge,
yeah, just continuing movingthem forward.
I think that's really helpful.
And I think it's also helpful towork with a coach or to find
someone accountability buddy orsomeone to work through this
(32:48):
with you, where you recognizethat you want to maybe loosen
some of these practices up, butyou don't want to completely go
back to square one or start overagain, and so I think it can be
really helpful to talk withanother person about well, how
can I create parameters in mylife where this fits seamlessly,
(33:08):
where maybe I'm not neverhaving sugar ever, but where can
I put it in my life where it'snot taking over my life again?
Or maybe I'm not going to befasting every single Friday, but
how could I still have somefasting in my life?
And this is something that'shelpful.
So I think those things areimportant and I think also the
(33:30):
main thing with ending out thechallenge is just again focusing
back very intently on thereason why you took it on in the
first place.
So, now that you've got to thispoint and you're feeling good,
and you're feeling capable andyou're feeling mission ready,
well, it's time now to reallyoffer that as a gift to the Lord
and say okay, lord, what do youwant to do with this extra
(33:53):
energy and focus and vitality?
And I think that the number oneway to not completely fall off
the wagon and just look backinto all your old habits is to
continue that walk with the Lordand continue offering this to
him and letting him show youwhat he has in store for you
next.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Yeah, I agree, and I also recommend keeping a journal
so that you can go back andremember how you felt all along
that journey and then how goodyou felt at the end, because I
know that sometimes it's easy tostart getting into that place
where you're not feeling greatbut you're not really sure why,
(34:33):
and then you can look back andbe like remember when I was
doing all the things and I feltreally good, but it's still very
rested, like what was I doing,and then you can go back and
chart your journey and say, okay, this is where the breakdown is
.
But again, like you were saying,that's what having like working
with a coach.
If you're struggling with that,women can come to you and you
(34:57):
can say, okay, what is your maingoal, what's your main
objective, and here's how we'regoing to get there and then
guide them in that, which is so,so, very helpful.
So, before we close, you'vejust shared so much good
information and I know that thischallenge is going to be really
, really helpful for so many.
(35:18):
You just let people know wherethey can sign up for the
challenge, where they can findyou and just anything else that
you want to talk about orpromote while you're here.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Yeah, so you can sign up for the challenge at
atthrivingcatholiccom.
Forward slash lent and you canfind me and connect with me in
my work at atthrivingcatholic.
That's my handle on Instagramand Facebook and my website and
my podcast, so it's pretty easyto remember it's atthriving
(35:52):
atthrivingcatholic.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
Perfect.
So one other question since Idid it last year and maybe some
of my listeners did too, sinceyou talked about it on our last,
the last time you were here isif you signed up for the
challenge last year, are youautomatically on the email list
to be on it this year, or do were-sign up?
Speaker 2 (36:15):
You are probably.
You might still be in theFacebook group from last year,
but you should go ahead andre-sign up so that I can get you
on this year's email list andthat way you'll get
notifications of when we'remeeting and all of that.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
Perfect, okay, well, I'm going to do that as soon as
we're done here, so that I canget on your on your list,
jessica.
Thank you so much once againfor being here, but most of all,
for the work that you are doingwith Catholic women to get us
mission ready, so that we cannot be constantly seeking
(36:49):
happiness, but have thatfulfilled and sustained joy that
God desires for all of us.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
Well, you're so welcome, delated, to be here.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
Well, that does it for this episode of the Catholic
sobriety podcast.
I hope you enjoyed this episodeand I would invite you to share
it with a friend who might alsoget value from it as well, and
make sure you subscribe so youdon't miss a thing.
I am the Catholic sobrietycoach, and if you would like to
(37:22):
learn how to work with me orlearn more about the coaching
that I offer, visit my website,thecatholicsobrietycoachcom.
Follow me on Instagram attheCatholic sobriety coach.
I look forward to speaking toyou next time, and remember I am
(37:43):
here for you, I am praying foryou, you are not alone.
Welcome to the Catholic Subriety Podcast, the
go-to resource for women seekingto have a deeper understanding
of the role alcohol plays intheir lives, women who are
looking to drink less or not atall for any reason.
I am your host, kristy Walker.
I'm a wife, mom and a JoyfieldCatholic, and I am the Catholic
(00:24):
Subriety Coach, and I am so gladyou're here.
You were created on purpose andfor a purpose.
My friend and Catholic lifecoach, jessica Castillo, says
this often, and I firmly believethis as well.
I think it's one of the manythings that Jessica and I have
(00:44):
in common, and we both have adesire to help other women know
and understand this truth aswell.
I'm so honored to have Jessicaback on the podcast today.
It's been about a year since shewas on and, believe it or not,
lent is quickly approaching.
I know we just finished Adventand the Christmas season and
(01:07):
Lent's going to be here onFebruary 14th this year, so I
knew that I wanted to have herback on to talk about her free
Misioparata Lenten Challenge,and Misioparata is Latin for
Mission Ready.
I participated in it last yearand it was amazing.
I also recommend that you goback and listen to episode 9.
(01:31):
You are one of my very firstinterviews and it was a very
early podcast, and go listen toJessica's story, and she also
talks more about Misioparatathere as well.
Jessica is a former West Pointgraduate and Army officer.
She helps high achievingCatholic women excel at their
(01:55):
own missions by helping themlearn to optimize every aspect
of their health so that they arenot hindered in their work by
depression, fatigue, overwhelmor preventable illnesses.
Jessica knows that God hassomething important for every
woman and that is her goal is tohelp bring that out in them.
(02:19):
Jessica is the founder of athriving Catholic and host of
the podcast A Thriving Catholic.
So welcome back, jessica.
I'm so happy to have you here.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Thank you so much for having me, Christy.
I'm so excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
Let's go ahead and start off, because I'm sure the
question that everyone has hadif they haven't listened to
episode 9 and they haven't hadthe pleasure of you know, coming
upon any of your social mediaor your podcast is what is
Misioparata and how did it comeabout?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Okay, so Misioparata is my freelance and challenge,
like you mentioned.
That basically combines somevery disciplined physical
practices with deep andintentional prayer, and the
intention behind all of it isthat you, through the process of
participating in theMisioparata challenge, that you
(03:18):
really do become this fitinstrument in the hands of God,
that you are now mission readyand you can accomplish the will
of the Lord in your life in, ifnot a new way, like a more
profound or a deeper way, and sothat is basically what
Misioparata is.
And so some of those practices,the physical practices there's
(03:40):
discipline, diet and fasting,there's intentional movement
every day and a focus on gettingenough sleep.
We combine that with prayer ofthe rosary and lexio divina, and
it really got started.
Last Lent was the first time Iran it, so this will be the
second annual Misioparata Lentenchallenge, but the way it
(04:03):
really started was around thistime last year, before Lent.
I was really reflecting andpraying a lot on this concept of
mission, and part of it isprobably because of my
background as a former Armyofficer and, I think, in terms
of objectives and missionssometimes.
But I was really motivated andinspired by this quote from St
(04:28):
John Henry Newman which I'vealways loved so much.
But the quote is God hascreated me to do him some
definite service.
He has committed some work tome which he has not committed to
another.
I have my mission.
And so this idea of mission,this concept that every single
(04:48):
human person was created, likeyou said in the intro on purpose
and for purpose Well, what isthat purpose?
And how do we help uncover itand discover it?
And so, as I was praying andreflecting on this before Lent
last year, I really felt likethe Lord was saying to me well,
(05:08):
your role is to get the missionready.
You get the mission ready.
I don't know what your missionis.
I don't know what the Lord iscalling you to do.
All I know is that he hascreated you for a purpose, and
so my role in it is to help youbecome the most capable and fit
instrument you can possibly be,so that you can fulfill that
role and so that you can stepinto that mission and do it even
(05:31):
better.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Oh yes, that's so important, I think, for people
to realize because sometimes wejust get stuck not feeling well.
I've heard you say sometimes weforget how it feels to feel
well because we've just spent somuch time feeling not good or
(05:54):
just being trapped by thecomforts that we have.
And then when we start todetach ourselves from those
things, we're like, oh mygoodness, it just opens yourself
up and you're like this is whatit feels like to feel really
well.
And I can say I've done a lotof different things.
I've done like 30 and differenttypes of elimination diets and
(06:17):
those are so, so helpful.
What I loved about Misioparatais not just the food aspect of
it, but because it's lent andwe're dedicating this to God and
trying to make it a holy workand take care of ourselves mind,
body and spirit during lent.
I loved your challenge becauseit not only incorporated the
(06:40):
food aspect, which I'll let youtalk about later, but also
exercise in our spirituality,like praying the rosary or lexio
divina, and I just found it tobe so wonderful.
My husband he actually doesExodus 90, which is really
hardcore and involves coldshowers.
(07:00):
So I'm so glad that yourchallenge does not involve cold
showers, but it's similar in theway that it's like self mastery
and just detaching.
And by the end of lent lastyear I just felt better than I
think I've ever felt and Ireally did feel mission ready.
(07:24):
Now that's not to say I fallback into my old ways, because I
have, and that's why I'm solooking forward to Misioparata
to just kind of get myselfmission ready again, because I
feel like I was more creative, Ihad so much more mental clarity
, I had so much more energy, andthat's something that I'm sure
you hear time and time againfrom the women that you work
(07:47):
with.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah, absolutely, and that's like the whole point of
all of it.
This is why we do it.
And cold showers, I think, arewonderful, they're so good, but
of course I wanted to create achallenge that was hard and
intentionally hard, but all forpurpose and of course, cold
shower server purpose too.
I'm not saying you don't.
(08:09):
But I think what?
When I first created thechallenge, too, the idea was in
my mind that, oh, maybe peoplearen't going to want to do this,
because I know a lot of.
So I am a certified healthcoach, and I know that a lot of
times, with health coaching,it's very common to try to take
(08:33):
this very gentle approach.
You tell someone to just maybedrink more water or take to get
a little bit more merbin, or youtake these very tiny baby steps
, and I kind of felt like thatwas not really my role or my
personality either.
(08:53):
That wasn't what I couldeffectively bring to the table,
and so, when I created theMissio Prada challenge, I almost
thought about it as throwing agauntlet down and saying here
you go, this is hard, and it'sunapologetic.
Like this will be hard.
This is a challenge, and thebeauty of it, though, is that
(09:14):
you can do hard things, and youcan do hard things for the
greater glory of God, and so Ithink that what happens is that
we start to feel thatinspiration, that magnanimity in
our soul.
We feel this expansive feelingof, yes, I can do something hard
for God, and it's going toresult in all of these amazing
(09:39):
things.
But even in the process of it.
It's changing and transformingus, and we're growing.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yes, I believe that so wholeheartedly.
I think of it like sometimeswhen I have to get up in the
morning and go work out and Iknow that the garage is going to
be freezing cold and I don'twant to do it.
I just think of it as I'm justgetting to the edge of the pool
and jumping in, instead of babystepping into the pool, where it
lasts so much longer and it'sjust so much harder, and then I
(10:09):
might not even go in all the waybecause it's just, oh my gosh,
this is horrible.
But if I just jump in, thenthat only lasts for a minute,
and then afterwards I'm so gladthe way that I did it.
And so that's what I alwaysvisualize in my mind.
If I have to take my dog on awalk and it's freezing cold
outside, I'm like, just jump inthe pool, christy, it's going to
(10:33):
be so much better.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Yeah.
Or I like to say to decide andthen don't decide, you've
already decided.
So when we start talking toourselves out of it or thinking,
oh, maybe I'll just do some ofit or I'll do a little bit, and
then we start half-stepping andwe don't need to do that, yeah,
I completely agree.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
So, on that topic, something that always gets me
going is the quote by PopeBenedict the 16th that the world
offers you comfort, but you arenot made for comfort, you are
made for greatness.
And in a world that offers uscomfort and convenience, why do
you think that they really cankeep us stuck and stagnant and
(11:19):
even dissatisfied?
So why do you think that is?
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Yeah, first of all, I totally love that quote from
Benedict XVI, one of my favoritequotes too.
But I think that some of theways this worldly comfort keeps
us stuck and stagnant is that,first of all, just the science
behind it of how dopamine worksin our brain.
So I know that you probablywork with clients about this all
the time, but things likescrolling our phones and eating
(11:46):
sugar and junk food and drinkingalcohol all of these things
cause these spikes, at leastinitially, a big spike in
dopamine to an unnaturally highlevel, and so in our brains we
think this feels amazing, thisis so good, I want this.
But then what happens is wehave that crash, the dopamine
(12:06):
crash, where now everythingfeels bad and we can't even get
back up the baseline againunless we try to start seeking
out another dopamine hit.
And so I think, when we thinkabout worldly comforts, what
we're really searching for, whatour brain is searching for, is
dopamine.
We're trying to have thismolecule of motivation, the
(12:29):
molecule of more, thisneurotransmitter that makes us
feel good and happy, and this isa good thing.
So I think, on a scientificlevel, this is what's kind of
happening in our brains and thereason why that sort of stuff
keeps us stuck and stagnant isthat we're now stuck in this
loop of destructive or behavior.
(12:52):
Really, that's not leading usin a good direction, it's not
leading us on the path togreater health or greater virtue
it's, and it also isn't helpingus to do things that we really
desire to do with our time andwith our lives.
Because now we're stuck wherewe just waste time scrolling our
phones or on Netflix, or we'rewasting time feeling sick or
(13:15):
unwell because we ate poorly orwe drank too much or we did all
these things in this pursuit ofthis dopamine high, and so what
happens is that we don't end uptaking the action or moving
forward on the things that arereally important to us, so we
stay stuck.
And then I think also there's avery there's a spiritual level.
(13:38):
You know, saint Thomas Aquinaspointed this out himself.
He said that man cannot livewithout joy.
Therefore, when he's deprivedof true spiritual joys, it is
necessary that he becomeaddicted to carnal pleasures.
And I always think about thatquote, because the reason why
we're seeking comfort in theworld, why we're searching out
(14:01):
this, this dopamine, is becausewe were made to live with joy,
we were made to have joy, and sowe can have a more authentic,
healthy, real joy, which is adeep spiritual joy, or a joy
from accomplishing our goals or,you know, because we also get
(14:23):
dopamine from doing these sortof things, making progress
toward an important goal or youknow, just the joy that we feel
when we are eating well andmoving well and living in
balance and we are having thisdeep prayer.
This is also joy, but it's joyof a different and more lasting
(14:45):
sort and it actually helps usbecome better and move towards
our goals.
So I think that that's kind ofthe difference between here's
worldly comfort and it's onlygoing to feel good for a very
short amount of time and thenit's going to feel worse and
you're going to have to keepchasing that and it's not going
to be consistent.
But here's a steeper kind ofjoy, here's this joy that, of
(15:07):
course, man, you were made forjoy, so you must experience joy.
But we get to choose and useour intellect and our will and
decide then well, which do Iwant to pursue?
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah, I agree, and I love that St Thomas Aquinas
quote too.
That's so.
I think that's so illuminatingand can really help us keep
focused on the why of it, like,instead of beating ourselves up
like why do I do this, why am Idoing this, look for maybe the
deeper root of why you're doingit.
(15:41):
It's probably not what youthink a lot of times, so I
really like that.
So, speaking of virtues, sovirtues like temperance can be
really powerful in helping usdetach from vices.
So can you share about howcultivating virtues has helped
you personally in your endeavorsto be mission ready?
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, absolutely so.
Temperance, we know, is thatmoral virtue.
When we talk about temperance,it's the virtue that moderates
the attraction of pleasures andprovides balance in the use of
creative goods.
So when we're thinkingtemperance, this is what we're
thinking.
The cool thing about growth invirtue is that when you start
(16:28):
growing in one virtue, itactually becomes easier to grow
in other virtues as well, andthis when we talk about growing
in virtue in order to detachfrom vices.
One thing that I think is reallyimportant to point out is the
way that we grow in virtue is bythe exercising of virtue.
(16:49):
So it's kind of like thatanalogy of working out in the
gym.
How do you grow your muscles?
Well, you put them under stress.
You stress your muscles bylifting weights and then you
grow back bigger, stronger,better muscles.
And the same thing with how dowe grow in virtue.
How do we practice virtue?
Well, we have to give ourselvesopportunities to practice
(17:09):
virtue.
I mean, they exist already.
Our daily lives are going toprovide plenty of opportunities
to practice virtue.
But we can also intentionallytrain ourselves in growing in
virtue, and I think what peoplestart to notice, especially if
someone were to take onsomething like the miscobrata
challenge or any intentionalendeavor, where we are
(17:31):
deliberately saying no to onekind of perceived good or to a
comfort that the world offers usand instead we're embracing a
different path, this maybe morechallenging and more arduous
path.
What we're giving ourselves theopportunity to do is to now
exercise that virtue, thatvirtue of temperance, that those
(17:53):
virtues of fortitude, thosevirtues of prudence, and as we
start to grow stronger throughthe use of exercising these
virtues, they become easier,they become more habitual for us
to exercise.
And this is 100% been true inmy life, because I can.
I can attestify, much like you,that whenever I am really
(18:16):
holding to these habits that Iknow are helping me to be at my
best, physically and mentallyand spiritually, that everything
in my life is going usuallymuch better.
So I'm more successful in mybusiness, I'm having an easier
time in my relationships with myfamily or homeschooling my kids
.
There is there's so manybenefits that just come from
(18:40):
exercising these virtues, andthen how it spills over into
every part of our life.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
That's so true because I notice I can get so
much done when I am balancingall those plates and just giving
attention to each one.
Not a ton of attention, but alittle bit.
And it's so interesting how Ican, all of a sudden, when I was
thinking I don't have time foranything, like I don't have time
to exercise, I don't have timeto cook, we need to eat out, or
(19:11):
I don't have time to clean myhouse.
It's a complete disaster.
Yet when I get in that habit andthat's what you focus on so
much and I love is, once you getin that habit it doesn't mean
that you're always doing itperfectly, but when you're in
that habit, it's like everythingelse goes so much more smoothly
(19:32):
because you're not having tospend an ordinate amount of time
on one thing, because you'vebeen able just to do little,
little daily habits to keepeverything going smoothly.
And then, yeah, it's just, it'sso freeing, because sometimes I
think, well, I don't reallywant to do that, I would rather
(19:53):
do that, I would rather scrollon my phone or whatever.
Well, that's not going to getme the results that I want.
It might, in that moment, besomething that I think that I
want to do, but it's not goingto get me the results I want.
So if you keep your results inmind, that's also super helpful
as well.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
But I think I was just going to mention.
I know probably a lot of yourlisteners might be working their
way through to Father MichaelMike Schmitz's Bible in a year
podcast since January, startingthe year.
A lot of people are probablyworking through that and I know
a few days ago we read about howJacob and Esau and how Jacob
(20:34):
was willing to trade hisbirthright to Jacob for a in
exchange for a bowl of lentilstew or potage, and I know
Father Mike highlighted well,how can we be willing to trade
away something so precious for abowl of stew?
But that's how it is.
(20:55):
When we're actually in thatmoment of temptation where we're
like, okay, I have these dreamsand these aspirations and this
and maybe even this mission fromGod that I am supposed to be
fulfilling, but in the actualmoment, in the right now moment,
it feels so much better to tryto seek out comfort than it does
(21:17):
to do the hard work of what Imight be called to do.
And that's not to say there'snot a time and a place for rest
and there's not a time and placewhere it's probably fine to be
on your phone or to watchNetflix or to rest.
There's a time for all of that.
It's just that's where it comesin to using the virtues and
(21:38):
relying on the virtues and usingyour prudential judgment of
when is this an appropriate timeand when is this not an
appropriate time.
And again, that's whattemperance is.
It's just moderating theattraction of pleasure, it's
just providing balance in theuse of these creative goods.
It's not saying you shouldnever have pleasure, you should
(22:00):
never use these creative goods.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
Right, I'm so glad you highlighted it and that that
scripture is.
I do listen to Father MikeSchmidt's Bible in here and I
know that when I've heard thatscripture I'm just like that's
crazy, like, but we do that, howoften do we do that?
And so it is very good to lookat those old stories like that
(22:23):
and be like it's so applicableto my life today, because how
many times have I givensomething so good just for the
carnal pleasure in that momentthat I think that I need, and
then I just don't feel greatlater and I'm like, wait, I
didn't mean to do that, I didn'twant to do that.
So I'm sure that my listenersare wondering what?
(22:47):
Because we've alluded to alittle bit about what you need
to do in Missio Parada, but Iwould just like you to go
through what are some of thosethings that we are detaching
from so that we can freeourselves up to greater health
and clarity and optimization.
And also I just want to saythat one of the things that
(23:12):
Jessica has is like this Excel.
She's like an Excel sheetwizard.
She's like I don't know if youknow this, but she has an Excel
sheet.
I don't know if she's doing itthis year.
Are you doing it again?
Yeah, ok, and so it's live.
And for some people that can bedaunting, like, oh my gosh, look
at Susie, she's like knockingit out of the park every day and
(23:34):
I am sitting here like, well,ok, I can not to brag, but I can
rock the alcohol the no alcoholthing I'm just saying.
But I've been practicing it fora long time.
But some of the other things,like the fasting, and I'll let
you get into all of that, someof those things I can't hit
every day, but when I wasfilling it out sometimes those
(23:54):
types of things, my brain islike I didn't do all of them.
So now I have totally messed itup and I just did not allow
myself to do that.
And your coaching andeverything was so helpful in
that because you are so likeit's OK if you don't do it, just
do as much as you can.
And I did that instead ofquitting and saw so many fruits
(24:18):
from that.
So if you could just talk aboutwhat's in it, maybe some of the
hurdles that people will faceand how to get through that.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Yeah, absolutely OK.
So these are the components ofbasically what the challenge is.
The first, you've mentionedalready, is discipline, diet and
fasting.
So during the course of theNisiyo Karate Challenge, you
will be abstaining from sugar,alcohol, gluten and dairy for
the entire challenge, and sothat eliminates the Sunday
(24:48):
cheats.
There will not be a Sundaycheat in the challenge.
You will be abstaining fromthese things the entire
challenge, and the reason why wedo that is because these are
actually the most inflammatoryfoods for most people, and so
eliminating them entirely isgoing to help your body heal and
strengthen.
And in addition to that, duringthe challenge, you'll be
(25:08):
fasting on Fridays, and, ofcourse, I give a lot more detail
and training into what thatconsists of Basically, if you're
not pregnant or nursing, inwhich case you will not be
fasting, or if you don't have amedical condition that prohibits
you from fasting.
Fasting is a powerful spiritualpractice and it also has a lot
of physical benefits as well.
(25:30):
So Fridays, during thechallenge, there is a fasting
component.
There's also a restorativesleep as part of the challenge,
so I'm literally challenging youto spend seven to eight hours
in bed each night, and for somepeople that sounds too easy and
they're thinking well, how hardcould it be?
But for other people who aresleeping a lot less than that,
(25:51):
it's a real challenge to beconsistent in your bad wake time
, but that's such an important,critically important component
to helping people to have theclarity, that focus, that
vitality that they need.
Sleep is foundational and a lotof people aren't doing it, so
that's part of the challenge.
The other physical aspect of thechallenge is daily movement.
(26:14):
I challenge everyone to moveevery day for at least 30
minutes, and this can be brokenup throughout the day.
I let people choose whetherthey want to do it all at one
time, if you want to break upand maybe go for a 10-minute
walk here and another 10-minutewalk there and then 10 minutes
of stretching or something laterin the day, or if you want it
(26:34):
to be more intense, and so thisis kind of variable and I'll let
you choose how you want to dothat.
But there's just no doubt thatexercise is the most effective
way to increase our ability tofocus, to concentrate, to grow
new brain cells and also ourability to manage stress, and
all of this helps us to serveGod better, because we have that
(26:57):
focus and that clarity and thatability to think more clearly.
And then we combine all ofthose physical practices with
deep prayer.
So I ask everyone to commit topraying a daily rosary and also
30 minutes of Lectio Divinaevery day of the challenge and
then going to confession atleast once during the challenge,
(27:19):
which is just actually requiredof all Catholics during Lent,
anyway.
So you're just doing that.
So that's the components ofwhat I'm asking people to do,
but I also include in thechallenge things to help make
that more possible.
So I have a pre-challengetraining call where I actually
outline the exact protocol ofthe challenge, how all of it's
(27:41):
going to work, what resourcesyou have access to to make it
easier, and then I'll do aweekly live coaching and
training during the challenge.
So every single week of thechallenge I'm providing a deeper
training on once some aspect ofthe challenge, so sleep and
diet and exercise and LectioDivina and how to pray the
(28:03):
rosary all of the components ofthe challenge I provide deeper
training in, and so that's achance every week for people to
come together and get theirquestions answered and be
coached live as well.
There is a private Facebookgroup where everyone can connect
and build that community sothat we're able to know that
(28:23):
we're in this together.
And then what you were talkingabout is the shared Google sheet
that I've created.
That is the habit tracker forthe challenge, and so for every
single day of the challenge, youbasically go on there and put
your name on a row of the habittracker and you have the chance
to track how you're doing on allof these components of the
(28:45):
challenge every single day ofthe challenge, and that's really
meant to help keep youmotivated and accountable to
yourself more than anything.
But also at the end of thechallenge, when I have the post
challenge closing call, I dohave the opportunity for you to
win a prize for participation inthe challenge, which I just
(29:06):
think is a fun way to wrapeverything up.
And also that post challengeclosing call.
I mean, you've spent all ofLent working on getting mission
ready, and so where do you gofrom here?
What do you do next?
How do you go out into theworld and actually serve the
Lord in your mission?
And that's what we do in thewrap up call.
(29:26):
So those are all the componentsof the challenge and then what
I'm trying to include in thefree challenge.
So all of that is free in thechallenge because I think it's
powerful and I think it's reallyhelpful.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Oh it is, and it's so generous and there's so much
included in it and it's sopowerful, right?
Because I say this all the timewhen I'm talking to women about
sobriety when you have supportand you have other people
walking alongside of you, itjust makes it so much easier.
So I know, being in thatprivate Facebook group,
sometimes women would be likeI'm having headaches, because
(30:02):
when you have been eating allthis sugar from the holidays and
then you detox from it, yourbody is going to feel some
things that are veryuncomfortable.
But when you have somebody else, that's like, yeah, I was
feeling like that too, but I gotthrough it.
Or you come on I mean you'revery active in there too and
you're like this is what'shappening, this is what you can
(30:23):
do to minimize that, you know,and so it's so very helpful to
have that added support on thejourney as well, because if
we're just doing it forourselves, that's great.
If we're doing it for ourselvesand for God, that's amazing too.
But when we just have thatextra added encouragement and
(30:43):
support of you know, you and Iboth feel very strongly about
spiritual gifts and like ourability as Christians to work
together, and I feel like thisis just another powerful way of
all of us coming together andsupporting each other,
encouraging each other and beingthe light of Christ to each
(31:04):
other, just for the greater good.
And you alluded a little bit towhat happens at the end,
because that's what comes up forme is at the end of land, I
start feeling really anxious.
I feel so good.
I don't want this to godownhill, and maybe we don't
keep such a strict regimen allthe time.
(31:26):
So what is like one thing thatyou would tell women as they're
reintroducing some of thesethings, or deciding what to keep
and what they can maybe be alittle more lax on?
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah, so that's such a good question.
I think that the main thing isto reflect on what felt the best
for you during the challenge,what had the biggest impact, and
so those are going to be thethings that you want to keep
moving forward.
And I will be honest, for mostof the people who participated
in the challenge last year, themost consistent thing that
(32:03):
people said that they were goingto continue in their life and
keep doing moving forward wasactually consistent lexiodivina.
For a lot of people, that wassomething that they had not done
before.
And so, recognizing, as youparse through the pieces of the
challenge and you try to analyze, okay, what is it that is
making me feel so good right now, what is having the biggest
(32:26):
impact in my health, in myhappiness, in my relationship
with God, and then, as you findthose elements of the challenge,
yeah, just continuing movingthem forward.
I think that's really helpful.
And I think it's also helpful towork with a coach or to find
someone accountability buddy orsomeone to work through this
(32:48):
with you, where you recognizethat you want to maybe loosen
some of these practices up, butyou don't want to completely go
back to square one or start overagain, and so I think it can be
really helpful to talk withanother person about well, how
can I create parameters in mylife where this fits seamlessly,
(33:08):
where maybe I'm not neverhaving sugar ever, but where can
I put it in my life where it'snot taking over my life again?
Or maybe I'm not going to befasting every single Friday, but
how could I still have somefasting in my life?
And this is something that'shelpful.
So I think those things areimportant and I think also the
(33:30):
main thing with ending out thechallenge is just again focusing
back very intently on thereason why you took it on in the
first place.
So, now that you've got to thispoint and you're feeling good,
and you're feeling capable andyou're feeling mission ready,
well, it's time now to reallyoffer that as a gift to the Lord
and say okay, lord, what do youwant to do with this extra
(33:53):
energy and focus and vitality?
And I think that the number oneway to not completely fall off
the wagon and just look backinto all your old habits is to
continue that walk with the Lordand continue offering this to
him and letting him show youwhat he has in store for you
next.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
Yeah, I agree, and I also recommend keeping a journal
so that you can go back andremember how you felt all along
that journey and then how goodyou felt at the end, because I
know that sometimes it's easy tostart getting into that place
where you're not feeling greatbut you're not really sure why,
(34:33):
and then you can look back andbe like remember when I was
doing all the things and I feltreally good, but it's still very
rested, like what was I doing,and then you can go back and
chart your journey and say, okay, this is where the breakdown is
.
But again, like you were saying,that's what having like working
with a coach.
If you're struggling with that,women can come to you and you
(34:57):
can say, okay, what is your maingoal, what's your main
objective, and here's how we'regoing to get there and then
guide them in that, which is so,so, very helpful.
So, before we close, you'vejust shared so much good
information and I know that thischallenge is going to be really
, really helpful for so many.
(35:18):
You just let people know wherethey can sign up for the
challenge, where they can findyou and just anything else that
you want to talk about orpromote while you're here.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Yeah, so you can sign up for the challenge at
atthrivingcatholiccom.
Forward slash lent and you canfind me and connect with me in
my work at atthrivingcatholic.
That's my handle on Instagramand Facebook and my website and
my podcast, so it's pretty easyto remember it's atthriving
(35:52):
atthrivingcatholic.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
Perfect.
So one other question since Idid it last year and maybe some
of my listeners did too, sinceyou talked about it on our last,
the last time you were here isif you signed up for the
challenge last year, are youautomatically on the email list
to be on it this year, or do were-sign up?
Speaker 2 (36:15):
You are probably.
You might still be in theFacebook group from last year,
but you should go ahead andre-sign up so that I can get you
on this year's email list andthat way you'll get
notifications of when we'remeeting and all of that.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
Perfect, okay, well, I'm going to do that as soon as
we're done here, so that I canget on your on your list,
jessica.
Thank you so much once againfor being here, but most of all,
for the work that you are doingwith Catholic women to get us
mission ready, so that we cannot be constantly seeking
(36:49):
happiness, but have thatfulfilled and sustained joy that
God desires for all of us.
Speaker 2 (36:58):
Well, you're so welcome, delated, to be here.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
Well, that does it for this episode of the Catholic
sobriety podcast.
I hope you enjoyed this episodeand I would invite you to share
it with a friend who might alsoget value from it as well, and
make sure you subscribe so youdon't miss a thing.
I am the Catholic sobrietycoach, and if you would like to
(37:22):
learn how to work with me orlearn more about the coaching
that I offer, visit my website,thecatholicsobrietycoachcom.
Follow me on Instagram attheCatholic sobriety coach.
I look forward to speaking toyou next time, and remember I am
(37:43):
here for you, I am praying foryou, you are not alone.
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